Pittsford Historical Society Inc.
News - Fall 2016

Museum Hours:
Regular visiting hours are 9 am to 4
pm.

During this time, volunteers gather for a
variety of constructive activities, and company is always
welcome. Visitors to town outside normal hours should contact
our Curator, Anne Pelkey, or Steve Belcher, for access to the
museum.

Newsletter - Fall 2016

Museum Hours

The museum will be closing for the winter in early November, and the extra
Sunday hours will stop soon. Anyone wishing to visit the museum can still
arrange to do so by contacting Anne Pelkey, the curator, or Steve Belcher
(see directory at end of newsletter), preferably with some advance notice.

Upcoming Events

October 23: Members' Meeting and Program
Time: 5:30 pm Pot-luck supper followed by the business meeting; ca. 7:00 pm
the program
This is the Annual Meeting at which we elect officers for the coming year. A
nominating
committee led by Barb Willis and Rebecca Davenport offers the following
candidates for the
positions whose terms are expiring: for President, Bill Powers; for
Vice-President, Ernie Clerihew; for Treasurer, Terri Davis. All these are
incumbents. Rebecca Davenport has also served notice that she does not
expect to continue as Recording Secretary for much longer, and so anyone
willing to help in that capacity would be welcome.
The program will be a talk on ‘Dr. Henry Haven Swift and the Pittsford of
his Time,' given by Steve Belcher. Dr. Swift took over Dr. Caverly's
practice, and is remembered for his many photo-albums as well as the lively
social activity at his camp on Furnace Brook.
The Society will also be represented at the Christmas Bazaar at St.
Alphonsus, and will try to
participate in other town activities as they arise.

Society Activities

Tag and Bake Sale: July 23
We would like to thank the many donors, known and anonymous, who contributed
goods for sale. We also thank the volunteers* who devoted time and acumen to
sorting and pricing the goods, and who also then showed remarkable stamina
through the day in managing the boxes and dealing with the customers.
Besides an eclectic assortment of kitchen-, table- and glassware, the
offerings included an assortment of dolls, a child's pin-ball table, books
and videotapes, plants, camping equipment, baskets, an impressive assortment
of old tools that may have belonged to Dooner Conway, spiky plants (Ivy
Dixon, as last year), and edibles.
We were lucky: the rain held off until the end of the day after the tent had
been taken down and just as we were getting a tarpaulin over the assemblage
of unsold articles. Over the next few days the goods dispersed (the tarp was
saved: thank you). The combined total was around $1,200, which helps
greatly.
* Rebecca, Barb, Ivy, and Monica whose cell phone allowed her to
double-check values for intriguing objects.

August 21: Members' Meeting and Presentation
Howard Banow made a presentation on Wright Stevens (1896-1997), a Pittsford
native who took to writing poetry at the age of 85, after the death of his
wife. The poetry is unpublished, but has a certain local interest. For
Howard Banow and Elizabeth Simpson, who bought the Florence chapel as a
summer home, the immediate connection was Stevens' poem on the Florence
chapel, that begins:
The little Florence Chapel
So gracefully on the Grounds -
Many people went there
From places all around.
Howard presented a biography and an insightful appraisal of Wright Stevens'
character. Stevens had worked his way up through the marble industry, at the
Florence Mill, at a time when Vermont was furnishing marble for the
monuments and buildings in Washington DC. Pittsford's Second Century
mentions that he supervised the preparation of the columns in front of the
Supreme Court. Howard concentrated on the character revealed in the poems:
reflections on his father, on life, an Aesopic poem about a mouse and a rat,
reflections on philosophy and days gone by. And to support his
interpretation, he was joined by Joan Thomas of Brandon, who had known
Wright Stevens well as a neighbor.
Wright Stevens appears in several PHS publications: a 1909 photo shows him
with a 5-day catch of skunks and other fur-bearing animals, and PSC gives
excerpts of verse (e.g. on the pleasures of riding a buggy into a covered
bridge, which might afford a hug or even a kiss). Here is another excerpt:
The old man loves his Flowers
that beautify his home
Many hours he has time to spend
As now he lives alone ...
He's always in good humor.
He's four score and seven
With His Flowers and Kind Thoughts
He will surely land in Heaven.
Let us hope the wish came true, and thanks to Howard for bringing back this
wonderful
personality from Pittsford's past.

Historic Markers and Memorials

At last writing, the new historic marker for the town green had been
retrieved from Plymouth Notch. We are delighted to report that the new
marker has now been erected and dedicated. There were several phases to the
operation, which involved sequential communications among the Historic
Society, the Town manager’s office, and the state of Vermont. The Historic
Society, after some discussion, decided to schedule a dedication ceremony on
Sept. 24, to coincide with the Harvest Fair and the Maclure Library
book-sale. Steve Belcher and Ernie Clerihew, equipped with a photocopy of
the newspaper photograph of the dedication of the previous marker on Samuel
Hopkins (which took place in 1956; Joe Kamuda’s older sister Victoria, was
enlisted to unveil the marker), were able to identify a spot close to the
original site, yet some distance from the probable waterlines under the
ground. The town of Pittsford received approval from the state Highway Dept.

So at the end of August, Chad Eugair and Josh Towne proceeded to erect the
pole with diligence and a back-hoe. Chad managed the back-hoe; Josh worried
about hitting water-pipes, and later went off to fetch the shovels they
should have brought. He spent more time in the hole than Chad. They fastened
a cross-bar to the pole, for stability, measured the depth, and planted the
pole. They verified the verticality with a carpenter’s level, largely pro
forma, for Josh has a keen eye. Two days later they retrieved the marker
from the vestibule of Eaton Hall and placed it on top of the pole. The
markers are fastened by screws with hexagonal indents, by the way.

On September 24, the marker was dedicated. President Bill Powers presided.
His introductory remarks noted that where Rutland and Brandon have markers
commemorating natives who went elsewhere and then achieved fame (John Deere
and Stephen Douglas, known respectively for agricultural machinery and for
debating Abraham Lincoln in Illinois), the marker on Pittsford’s iron
industry honored a local achievement and a tradition of industriousness.
John Haverstock, the town manager, then spoke of the process that led to the
placement of the marker. And Peg Armitage then spoke of the history
involved. She had interviewed Pat Mooney, who had worked at the furnace in
the last years before it closed, and she quoted Pat on the working
conditions and hours, which were not easy.

The memorial to veterans has now been placed in front of the town offices;
dedication ceremonies are planned for Nov. 11. The town is still raising
funds to cover costs, and should anyone wish to make a contribution, the
address would be:

Pittsford Day in August was not favored by the weather. At one point many
burly firemen were seen holding down one tent in fear of windy gusts (the
other tent that sheltered the musical entertainment was anchored by large
cement blocks). The face-painting of children moved into the Fire Station.
Even so, many people joined the fun, especially after 3:00 pm (when
ice-cream was served) and later when the food poured forth.